1. Field
This disclosure relates to a positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method of preparing the same, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lithium rechargeable batteries have recently drawn attention as a power source for small portable electronic devices. They use an organic electrolyte solution and thereby have twice the discharge voltage of a conventional battery using an alkaline aqueous solution, and accordingly have high energy density.
The rechargeable lithium battery is fabricated by injecting an electrolyte into a battery cell, which includes a positive electrode including a positive active material capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions and a negative electrode including a negative active material capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions.
For a positive active material, LiCoO2 is widely used. However, since cobalt (Co) is a rare metal, it costs more in the preparation and has unstable supply issues. Accordingly, a positive active material including Ni (nickel) or Mn (manganese) has been researched.
Also, a positive active material including Ni (nickel) can provide a high-capacity and high voltage battery. However, the positive active material has an unstable structure and thus, decreases capacity. Also, due to a reaction with an electrolyte solution, it has thermal instability.